Holocene and local puppetry collective Beady Little Eyes present POP + PUPPETRY, an interdisciplinary extravaganza for the eyes and ears! 3 puppeteers of diverse styles (giant puppets, tiny puppets and shadow puppets, for example) will be paired with 3 inventive Portland-based pop groups. Each puppeteer will present an original puppet show created especially for this event and synced to the band’s music. The results should be dazzling, and help to elevate the experience of both artistic mediums when combined. We’ll also be screening puppet films between acts, directed and crafted by local artists.

We can't confirm that there are puppets involved in this show, but there is heavy mask work and some beautiful headdresses. So, if you imagine there are google eyes on the headdresses, you have yourself a puppet show. Check it out and support live theater!

The Fox & Beggar Theater presents “Angamazad,” a multifaceted fusion of musical theatre, contemporary dance, cirque nouveau, and visual art. The show adapts and re-weaves stories within The 1,001 Arabian Nights into a surreal roadmap of love, suffering, and the deep endurance of the imagination.

This show will premier over three nights at Portland’s historic Alberta Abbey, marking an exciting partnership between Portland writer/director Heather Beckett and Asheville NC cirque producer Nat Allister. “Angamazad” features an original score by local composer and violinist Mr. Moo, sets by Ghost Stag Productions, and a cast of twelve culturally and artistically diverse singers, dancers, actors, and performers of all kinds.

VIP tickets will be sold for Saturday night’s show only, and will include a pre-show champagne reception with the show’s directors and designers, priority seating, a special VIP gift bag, and entry to the theatrical after-party (10:30pm-2:30am at the Abbey).

CALLING ALL PUPPETEERS!

The next Portland, OR Beady Little Eyes puppet slam is seeking submissions in the form of live acts and short films. The next slam will take place at the Echo Theater on Saturday October 14 and Sunday October 15 @ 8pm both nights.

FOR LIVE ACT SUBMISSIONS: Please email your proposed puppet show in a short 2-3 sentence synopsis. It can be a show you've already done or a new piece that you have yet to work on. If we are not already familiar with your work, please send pictures of your past work or a website / youtube link. All shows must be 2 - 8 minutes in length. Please also indicate if you'd like to perform both nights or just one.

FOR FILM SUBMISSIONS: Please send a youtube/vimeo link to katie@beadylittleeyes.com.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Friday SEPTEMBER 1st, 2017

Send all submissions to: Katie@beadylittleeyes.com

"Trashman and the Noise Band" with Kelly Campbell, Summer Olsson, and Robert Randall

We here at BLE are HUGE fans of the National Puppetry Conference and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. They harbor safe spaces to let puppeteers be artists and risk freely in a constructive environment. There is a new residency that is fully supported, so if you have a grand idea and no idea how to make it happen, you should give this a shot! Letters of intent are due July 17, 2017!

Held at the O'Neill's Waterford campus, the residency expands and broadens the work of the National Puppetry Conference and offers space and support to a deserving artist/company towards the completion of a new work of puppet theater. Interested puppeteers and puppetry companies are invited to submit Letters of Intent.

Residencies may be between 2-4 weeks, can support up to 10-12 project participants, and covers full room and board. Dramaturgical support for the project will be provided by the O'Neill's literary office, a unique feature of the residency that is comparable to the support offered to plays developed at the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference. The residency can take place during the winter, spring, or fall months, with space available beginning in January 2018.

If you have a magical idea for a new puppet piece that could use some financial support, consider applying for a Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant! We here at Beady Little Eyes are happy to proofread any letters before they go out! Give us a shout.

Third Rail Repertory Theatre presents shadow puppetry mastersNight Shade for their Portland debut of Secret of the Spider, February 16 to February 19, 2017. Secret of the Spider is a psychedelic allegory from a world where spirits stalk their hosts and witches grant wishes. A mother's investigation into the mysterious disappearance of her daughter illuminates the shadows of her past. Haunted by her fears and running out of time, can she reclaim her place in the ever-growing and perishing beauty of life, and pull herself from a web of anger and guilt through her discovery of the "Secret of the Spider"? A triad of creative obsession weaving together three females, embroidery crafts and other worldly symbols will flow thru the theater surrounding audiences with a visual experience. Crowds at the recent 3rd Annual New Orleans International Puppetry Festival were blown away by an early incarnation of the play.

Holocene and Beady Little Eyes present POP + PUPPETRY, an interdisciplinary extravaganza for the eyes and ears! 3 puppeteers of diverse styles (giant puppets, tiny puppets and shadow puppets, etc.) will be paired with 3 inventive Portland-based pop groups. Each puppeteer will present an original puppet show created especially for this event and synced to the band’s music. The results should be dazzling, and help to elevate the experience of both artistic mediums when combined. We’ll also be screening puppet films between acts.

If you caught the last puppet slam in October, you saw an excerpt from this show done beautifully on an overhead projector. Now, the full interdisciplinary show is on for a limited run at the Echo Theater in SE Portland.

Inspired by comic book mythology and archetypes, Superhero Old Folks' Home is an action-packed, fun, and poignant look at a multi-generational family of superheroes. It is as much as exploration of aging and family ties as a look at the meaning of what it means to be heroic. The show features trapeze, aerial dance, acrobatics, PUPPETRY, and more!

SCARY PUPPET FILM NIGHT!

ONE NIGHT ONLY! New screening time ADDED - now showing at 6pm AND 8pm. Beady Little Eyes Puppet Company is celebrating the darker side of puppetry in the jolly month of December. Join us for an evening of scary puppet short films by Jesse Blanchard, a puppet feature trailer by creature maker, Chris Walas, and a very special Portland-premiere of New Mexico's scariest puppet filmmaker, Devon Hawkes Ludlow with his piece "The Love That Would Not Die", a zombie film spectacular.

If you're thinking about backing a super cool project in the puppetry arts, consider the upcoming short puppy film, SPooKy Girls : a romance. It's described as : A darkly mischievous short puppet film about a coven of teenage witches, that mixes advanced rod puppets with wicked in-camera effects!

You may have seen an improv show, and you may have seen a puppet show, but have you ever seen an improv show starring a cast of puppets? If not, now's your chance! Starting on November 12th and over the course of one incredible week, talented improvisers and puppeteers from around the globe will be coming to Unexpected Productions for the first ever Seattle Puppetry Improv Festival (SPIF).

This week features hysterical improvised performances by puppets as well as a variety of workshops and classes on improv skills, building and operating puppets and incorporating the two skills. The festival is brainchild of Unexpected Productions' long-time performer Elizabeth Westermann. This one-of-a-kind festival is a must-see for fans of improv, comedy and puppetry.

Sam Koji Hale will be appearing in the NW for a one-night-only short film screening and Q & A about his upcoming full-length feature film, Yamasong. This will take place on November 12th at the Theatre Off Jackson in Seattle, WA. More event details can be found here.

This film is the first non-Muppet puppet feature in North America since “Team America” (2004). It features the voice talent of Nathan Fillion, Whoopi Goldberg, George Takei, Peter Weller, Freida Pinto, Abigail Breslin, Malcolm McDowell, Ed Asner and Bruce Davison.

This event will include multiple film screenings including the original short that inspired the feature “Yamasong”, short films by regional puppetry artists produced for Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams, question and answer session and behind-the-scenes of “Yamasong” by creator/director Sam Koji Hale and more.

CALLING ALL PUPPETEERS!

The next Portland, OR Beady Little Eyes puppet slam is seeking submissions in the form of live acts and short films. The next slam will take place at the Echo Theater on Saturday October 15 and Sunday October 16 @ 7:30pm both nights.

FOR LIVE ACT SUBMISSIONS: Please email your proposed puppet show in a short 2-3 sentence synopsis. It can be a show you've already done or a new piece that you have yet to work on. If we are not already familiar with your work, please send pictures of your past work or a website / youtube link. All shows must be 2 - 8 minutes in length. Please also indicate if you'd like to perform both nights or just one.

FOR FILM SUBMISSIONS: Please send a youtube/vimeo link to katie@beadylittleeyes.com.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: Friday SEPTEMBER 9th, 2016

Send all submissions to: Katie@beadylittleeyes.com

Photo by Shawn Patrick Higgins. Puppet Show by Bill Holznagel and Paul Velasquez